It is all about the words!

This Twitter Guide Will Make You See What You’re Doing SO Wrong And How To Make It Right

Twitter is a terrible selling channel…

IF your goal is to spam your book links up there and hope for the best. Most writers write their book and then realize, oh hey, there are millions of potential readers just waiting to buy my book. I’m gonna tell them all about my book by repeatedly sharing my link with them! They’re all gonna buy my book and I’ll be rich!

Yea, no. Doesn’t work that way, writer friends. And if you’ve spent any time on Twitter spamming book links to random people who don’t know you, you’ve likely figured this out already.

Even for people who are really great using Twitter, the organic (non-paid) conversion rate is…0.5%. Yep, that’s right. Less than 1%. So…why bother? Twitter is a wonderful way to connect with readers, book bloggers, and book reviewers if you are connecting with them strategically. Many writers are completely flummoxed how to do that.

Ask yourself these questions:

How can you add value to your readers?

How can you be visible without constantly spamming your book link?

How can you connect with readers and influencers who will embrace your work?

I love Twitter because it’s the best way I know to connect with readers quickly and without having to write novels (hello, Facebook) to connect. My goal here is to help you change your paradigm from selling to connecting.

Today I’m going to run down the top Do’s and Don’t of Twitter for writers. You certainly do not need to follow my advice — do whatever you feel is best for you. I can only share that, as a long-time Twitter user, instructor, consultant, author and book marketer, these are standard, accepted, industry practices that work (in no particular order):

Twitter Do’s

DO add your website and book link in your bio. You have 160 characters. Add the link to your book there. See my bio example >>>>>>

DO pin a tweet to your book or website to make it easy for people to connect with you. Prime real estate.

DO have a hi-resolution header (aka, banner) at the top of your profile. Same with your avatar. Faces work best. People like to see eyes.

If you’re writing under a pen name, buy a photo that represents you. Use a face.

DO use the assigned hashtag when participating in Twitter chats so all participants see your tweets and replies (I recommend using free TweetChat.com or Twubs.com. Some people prefer Tweetdeck. Whatever works for you.)

DO schedule and space out your tweets — I use Hootsuite, Buffer, and PromoRepublic. All have free options.

DO create Moments featuring interesting conversations between you and others.

DO follow people strategically, using an affordable tool like ManageFlitter, where you can put a keyword term in Search (or use Twitter’s Advanced Search tool instead, which takes longer yet is still effective).

Focus on readers, book bloggers, book reviewers, and other influencers (e.g., publishers, agents, etc.). Connect with writers but not ONLY writers.

DON’T DM (direct message) people with your book link. Everyone is not your customer (thank you, Seth Godin) and besides, it’s rude. In addition, it violates Twitter’s TOS (Terms of Service): We all agree not to “Spam or bother users, or otherwise send them unsolicited messages.” I personally don’t want to risk having my account suspended or worse, banned.

DON’T thank people for the follow by telling them where else on social media they can find you. We’re on Twitter, not Facebook, Instagram, or Snap. Put those handles in your header if it’s that important to you.

DON’T come to Twitter chats and talk about yourself and your books and how awesome you are. That’s your ego talking and everyone sees that.

DON’T come into a chat and ask ‘what’s the topic?’ Read the host’s timeline first. Every host posts it throughout the day. Besides, hosts are busy.

DON’T ask a writer what they write. It’s ALMOST ALWAYS on their bio or header. Take three seconds and look at their bio. Read bios!

DON’T tag people with your latest blog post unless you’ve quoted them in the post. This is spammy and they will mute or block you.

DON’T tag people with your book promotion (unless they are explicitly part of it) because ugh. Just stop.

DON’T put a link in every tweet.This is against Twitter’s TOS (terms of service) “if your updates consist mainly of links and not personal updates” you are violating the ‘Twitter Rules’ regarding spam. More here.

DON’T be rude and then LOL at the end. It’s passive/aggressive and people will block you.

DON’T ever bully a book blogger or reviewer or ask your writer friends to ‘jump in’ to bully them (especially for a bad review). Once your book is out there, you’re no longer invited to the party. Grow up.

DON’T feel obligated to interact with anyone, ever. If you’re uncomfortable, mute, unfollow, or block. Report if necessary. That is your right.

DON’T automate every tweet. Interact live with people. Some automation is convenient (e.g., schedule in tweets for #MondayBlogs). Then go in and RT people, respond to their posts, ask questions.

DON’T complain that Twitter is all spam. That’s on you — if you only follow other writers who are spamming their books link and haven’t read this post because you haven’t shared it with them yet :), stop following only other writers.

Twitter is Just One Spoke of the Wheel

Remember, Twitter is one tiny spoke of the big author platform bicycle. It’s a great one, but it’s not the only one. If you are spending all your time and effort there, you are missing out on readers who are not there. Go where your readers are, not where you are most comfortable.

Click on the links I’ve provided here to read more about what I’ve suggested above. Most of what I mentioned is free, except for the time it will take you to scan the articles and figure out a few new slick moves. Attend my weekly #BookMarketingChat (Wednesdays, 6pm pst/9pm est on @BadRedheadMedia or see previous chats on our public Facebook page in Notes) to learn more about how to market your book. I have many amazing guests and I also share what I’ve learned along the way.

None of this matters one iota if your books suck. Write great books. Learn how to market them. Do the work.